Parachute
Define: a parachute is an object that helps slow down an object’s rate of descent.
Brief history:
The concept for a parachute was created between 1483 and 1485 by Leonardo Da Vinci
The inventor of the first practical parachute was Sebastien Lenormand in 1783
Major Edward L. Hoffman and his team of developers successfully developed the Airplane Parachute Type-A that had:
Rip-chord for manually deployment
Pilot chute to pull out main parachute
And storing the parachute in a bag on the back
Forces: Theoretically, if the person/cargo is going straight down in the air, there will be two types of forces that act on the parachute:
Gravity, the force that pulls the parachute and whatever it is holding downwards towards the ground
Drag/Air resistance, that is created from the air that is slowing down the descent.
Materials: Lighter material works the best - netting, plastic, nylon
Shapes & Performance:
Round: most drag; no lift
Square: decreases swaying/violent turns
Hole in top middle of parachute
Brief history:
The concept for a parachute was created between 1483 and 1485 by Leonardo Da Vinci
The inventor of the first practical parachute was Sebastien Lenormand in 1783
Major Edward L. Hoffman and his team of developers successfully developed the Airplane Parachute Type-A that had:
Rip-chord for manually deployment
Pilot chute to pull out main parachute
And storing the parachute in a bag on the back
Forces: Theoretically, if the person/cargo is going straight down in the air, there will be two types of forces that act on the parachute:
Gravity, the force that pulls the parachute and whatever it is holding downwards towards the ground
Drag/Air resistance, that is created from the air that is slowing down the descent.
Materials: Lighter material works the best - netting, plastic, nylon
Shapes & Performance:
Round: most drag; no lift
Square: decreases swaying/violent turns
Hole in top middle of parachute
Constraints:
Parachute cargo = Princess
Parachute cargo weight = 1.2 N
Parachute drop height = 2nd story window
Maximum parachute deployed diameter = 18 inches
Maximum safe landing force = 100 N
Parachute drop zone dimension = 4 x 4
Parachute cargo weight = 1.2 N
Parachute drop height = 2nd story window
Maximum parachute deployed diameter = 18 inches
Maximum safe landing force = 100 N
Parachute drop zone dimension = 4 x 4
Annotated Design:
Conclusion:
Overall the parachute did well. It had a coefficient of drag of 1.166. In order to improve the design in the future I would plan on taking a bit more time on building it. I would try to make sure the strings were as evenly distributed as possible. The final landing force was 31.43 N, and to be considered safe it would need to be under 100 N.